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Auckland councillors want begging and rough sleeping to be taken out of the government’s proposed move-on orders for disorderly behaviour.
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The Summary Offences (Move-on Orders) Amendment Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament and would give police the power to issue move-on orders to rough sleepers, people begging or obstructing entrance ways, or showing intent to inhabit a public place.
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Submissions to the bill close next month.
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The majority of Auckland councillors on Tuesday agreed to ask for begging and rough sleeping to be removed from the bill because it has the potential to displace people who are already vulnerable and will not address the root causes of homelessness.
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After a lengthy discussion, councillor Richard Hills said the move-on orders could provide another tool for dealing with antisocial behaviour.
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“There can be a tool for the destructive behaviours, disorderly intimidating, threatening disruptive, that’s why we don’t have full opposition,” he said.
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“We say there shouldn’t be move on orders for homelessness, rough sleeping and begging because it is only moving the problem down the road to Victoria Park up to Ponsonby for 24 hours.”
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Council staff had recommended the direction council’s submission to the bill could take, ahead of preparing a draft.
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Auckland Council director of community Rachel Kelleher spoke to councillors at the meeting, and was co-author of a tabled report.
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“Staff consider that the specific behaviour criteria of begging and rough sleeping should be removed from the bill as most people who sleep rough do so because they are homeless,” she said in the report.
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“Homelessness and begging are not synonymous with anti-social or disorderly behaviour. Including rough sleeping and begging as “behaviour” criteria has the potential to displace people who are already vulnerable and will not address the root causes that lead to people being in this situation.”
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Kelleher said the remaining criteria would still allow police to respond to disorder, safety and accessibility.
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She also said Auckland Council’s Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw contained offences for bad behaviour in a public area.
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Councillor Ken Turner opposed the recommendation to ask for begging and rough sleeping to be excluded from move on orders.
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“A simple move on for a thousand metres and while you’re walking have a think about why you’ve been asked to do that is nothing unacceptable in my opinion,” he said.
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“In our society there are unsaid expectations which apply to all areas of public life about how we behave, whether it’s a doctor’s surgery or a library or even just how we conduct ourselves on the beach.
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“We need the people who are not abiding by the standards of normal behaviour to understand that ignoring those standards comes with consequences.”
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Council’s submission to the bill is expected to focus on key themes including safety, amenity, accessibility and the impact on Māori.
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Representatives from Houkura, the independent Maori statutory board, said they oppose the proposed move on orders for the disproportionate impact it would have on Maori but recognised the need for council’s submission to strike a balance of views.
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Councillor Josephine Bartley also opposed the bill.
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“I would rather we oppose this bill altogether, we condemn it and push for it to be withdrawn because it is one hundred percent pushing down on the vulnerable, it’s criminalising poverty and it’s not going to provide any solutions,” she said.
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“What concerns me is where are they going to be moved to? We already hear from the social services that they need more funding to be able to deal with the issues that they are confronted with.”
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Councillor Mike Lee said more needed to be done to help people who are living rough.
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“We live in a post liberal era of beggars and billionaires, A-listers, the people who want helipads and the destitute and that’s the problem we face,” he said.
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“A sensible submission from the council would be strongly advocating the need to move these people on, into what they need is care.”
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Lee said the move on proposal was a clumsy measure from government and called for more investment in mental health services and a night shelter.
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Councillor Shane Henderson said he was concerned about the proposed move on orders’ inconsistency with human rights, especially for teenagers since it would apply to those aged over 14.
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Many councillors talked about their interactions with people who are homeless, either trying to help them find housing or acknowledging them in their neighbourhood.
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Mayor Wayne Brown said he knew the Ponsonby rough sleepers by name and said hello with mixed results.
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He said the government’s proposed move-on orders do not solve the problem of increased homelessness.
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“My submission would be to the government that I understand there’s a problem here but you’ve got to do a bit more thinking than this, it’s more complex,” Brown said.
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“You have some responsibilities here, you do run the health department, you do run the police department.”
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Council staff are now tasked with preparing the submission to the proposed move on orders and lodging this by 3 July. Source:RNZ
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